Letter box



April 20 1926. 1,581,808

T. c. MCKEE, SR

LETTER BOX Filed. Oct.

20 1 2 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR fLlMm lu 4L.

BY fida.

' ATTORNEY April 20, 1926.

T. C. M KEE, SR

LETTER BOX Filed Oct. 20. 1925 2 Sheets-5113 1", 2

Patented Apr. 20, 1926.

UNITED srarrs THOMAS C. MGKEE, SR, OF EAST CLEVELAND, OHIO.

LETTER BOX.

Application filed October 20, 1923.

To all wit-0m it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS C. MGKEE, 31:, a. citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at East Cleveland, in the county of Guyalroga and Stateof Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in LetterBoxes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in letter boxes, having for anobject to pro vide a box of this character for positioning in a wall ofa building and so constructed as to permit of delivery of mail into thebox from the outside and removal of the mail '5 from the opposite sideof said box.

Another object is to provide a letter box which may be adjusted forpositioning in walls of various thicknesses.

A further object is to provide a letter box in which the delivery andremoval openings are arranged directly opposite each other whereby tofacilitate the determination of the presence of mail in the box, andsimplify construction and assembly.

It is also an object to provide a letter box wherein the main bodyportion is of such a size as to have a large capacity and at the sametime reduced in area at its front end so as to require a front plate ofcomparatively small dimensions thereby presenting a neat appearance.

It is likewise an object to provide a letter box including a paper rackor bracket which is so constructed that when it is supporting a packageor the like it will signal the fact to the person looking into the boxfrom inside the house.

It is also an object to provide a mail box in which the body portion maybe arranged in the wall of a structure and later attach the front andback plates at the time of placing the usual hardware in buildingoperations.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in partpointed outhereinafter.

In order that the invention and its mode of operation may be readilyunderstood by persons skilled in the art, I have in the accompanyingillustrative drawings, and in the following detailed descriptions basedthereon, set out one possible embodiment of the same.

In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of the letter box constructed in accordancewith my in-= vention.

Serial No. 669,765.

Fig. 9. is a rear elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section through the box.

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective View illustrating the manner ofconnecting the front plate and box body at the upper portion.

F ig. 5 is a detail perspective view showing the manner of attaching thefront plate and body portion at the lower ends and showing the closureand signal carried by the paper rack.

Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view showing the connection between theback closure plate and the upper end of the box section.

Having more particular reference to the drawings throughout which.similar characters of reference designate similar parts, the improvedletter box may be stated as comprising a twopart or section box bodyincluding a front section 7 and a rear or back section 8, said sectionsbeing of different cross-sectional areas and adapted to telescope esubstantially as shown in Fig. 3. It may here stated that the frontsection 7 is to be made in one length only, and that the rear section 8may be made in several lengths so as to permit usage of the box in wallsof various thicknesses, said sections being adapted to be securelyattached in a wall by means of fasteners 9, which are extended throughthe section walls as indicated as in Fig. 3,.

The bottom wall of the front section 7 is adapted to be inclinedforwardly and upwardly as clearly shown in Fig. 3, this structureproviding a box of unusual capacity and at the same time one in whichthe front plate 10may be of comparatively small dimensions. Thisarrangement will mean that instead of having an unsightly large frontplate in order to havea box of suflicient capacity, I may employ a frontplate to present a neat appearance and constructed from ordinarymaterial and of a standard size.

This front plate as shown, includes at its upper portion a bell pushbutton 11 whose supporting means is adapted. to receive a conduit 12through which the usual electric wires pass. Below this bell push buttonis formed an opening in which is arranged a transparent house numberplate 13, which is retained in the opening by means of screw attachedplates or strips 14, this attaching means providing for the readyremoval of the number plate. At a point immediately below the munberplate, the front plate 10 is reduced in thickness and provided with aletter inlet opening 15, the lower wall 16 of which is flared outwardlyand adapted to serve as a stop for the self closing closure 17, which ispivoted ofl' center upon bearings 18, formed integrally with the frontplate 10. It may be also stated that as shown in Figs. i and 5, thefront plate 10 is attached to the box section by means of apertured ears19, and strips 20 struck downwardly and upwardly respectively from saidbody section 7, removable screws 21 being employed to accomplisa thisconnection between the said members.

A removable name plate 22 is adapted to be secured to the outer face ofthe front-plate 10 as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

A pair of horizontally spaced'vertically extending slots are formed inthe lower portion of the front plate 10 near its side edges and areadapted for the reception of the spaced arms 24, of a paper supportingbracket 25, said bracket being substantially 1 the form of an invertedU, the extreme lower portions of the arms being pivot-ally secured tothe bearings 26, carried by the front plate as shown in Figs. 3 and 5.The lower ends of, these arms Qt are also provided with closure platesor fingers 27, which serve to cover the slots 3 and in addition serve asa. signal whereby the owner may know that the bracket is supporting anarticle of some sort. The bracket is yieldably held against the frontplate by means of a coil spring 28.

The body section 8 is adapted to be closed by a back plate 29 which isremovably secured thereto by means of screws which are extended throughflanges formed upon the body section and into the said back plate. Thisback plate is adapted to have formed therein an opening 30 through whicharti cles of mail may be removed and which is closable by means of thespring closed door 31 provided with a handle 32 and with a peep hole 33through which the owner may inspect the box.

Arranged upon the upper portion of the back plate is an electric switch34, by means of which a lamp 35 is lighted.

Both the front and back plates are of slightly greater area than theportions of the box immediately adjacent the lamp whereby to provideflanges which will contact with the wall surrounding the opening inwhich the box is positioned. The inlet and outlet openings of this boxare arranged directly opposite each other, with the result that it isnot necessary during the buiding operation to provide openings otherthan one directly through the wall, this condition alone resulting inthe necessity of only a. very slight additional expense.

l urthermore, thpough arrangement of the opposed delivery and removalopenings, the owner can determine whether or not nil is in the box orsupported by the bracket by merely looking through the peep holearranged in the door secured to the back plate.

Manifestly, the construction shown is capable of considerablemodification and such modification as may fall within the scope of myclaim, I consider within the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

The combination, of a letter box adapted for positioning in awall andopening through each side of said wall, of front and back closure platescarried by the box, a door carried by the back plate, said front platehaving a pair of horizontally spaced vertically extending slots near itslower end, a substantially inverted U-shaped bracket, arms formed uponthe lower ends of the sides of said bracket and extending through theslots, said arms being pivotally mounted upon the inner side of thefront plate, spring means for snugly engaging the upper end of thebracket with the front plate and fingers carried by the said arms, andadapted to normally close said slots and to move outwardly from theplate to serve as a signal when the bracket is supporting an article. i

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature.

THOMAS o. MoKEE, s11.

